


Theater of Regret

by name_lyrics



Series: the looking glass [1]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, POV Alternating, Persona 5 Protagonist Has A Palace, Persona 5 Protagonist Needs a Hug, Persona 5 Spoilers, Persona 5: The Royal, Scars, akira blames himself over engine room, brief references to other persona/smt games, hints of shuake aka they Care but nothing said, joker palace au, persona 5 yaldabaoth bad ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27553981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/name_lyrics/pseuds/name_lyrics
Summary: A beat, and then another. Ice coated the air, the soft sound of mettalic chains went still. The lullaby still played, unaware, slow, and in bliss.
Series: the looking glass [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2014057
Comments: 3
Kudos: 60





	1. From The Shadow's Perspective (Prologue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the Palace came to be.

He hated Mementos. He hated Mementos with his entire being. Maybe the place hadn't done anything wrong in particular -it didn't have emotions nor could it act, as far as he knew, as it was where he had always existed, and aside from the iron bars and the cold, dark-red floor if he went too close to the edges of it, it was just about the same as the other world (he rarely ever went there though, only when he was in a really bad mood).  
He squirmed his way out of the main prison for the first time when he was eight, deciding that one, he'd open up a theater to disguise the fact that he'd left his room messy, and two, today was going to be the last day his father was going to chide him like that.  
It wasn't a big or grandiose theater, hell it barely looked like one, just a small blotch on the subway he caught and called his, but he projected it to his house and performed for his parents, trying to distract them from the unmade bed. They still noticed anyway, and he ended up cleaning his room, but at least they weren't as hard on him. He didn't stay inside the little makeshift venue (the red veins swirling by the walls kind of creeped him out to be completely honest), but he made it a project to learn how to make good use of it.  
It was far from perfect, but he at least got to breathe outside the jail for a little while (and as much as he wanted to _leave_ Mementos, he knew that he would have to start from scratch, not to mention find Shadows to guard the place and manage it all by himself, and that was an intimidating concept).  
As the years passed, he became good at acting, enough so that he would forget he was performing when he remained calm and bit his tongue when his mother complained about his grades being anything lower than an A, ranting loudly about how he wasn't going to become anything if he didn't go to a good university. It came to him naturally.  
Sometimes he wonders how differently things would have gone if he hadn't decided to drop the act when Shido threatened to sue. He always concludes that not much would have changed.  
After arriving in Tokyo, he doesn't go back to the theater again. Instead, he's shoved into an entirely new prison, but this time he is promised freedom if he could get himself out of the cage and 'prevent ruin'.  
From then on, he lives his life in the world outside Mementos and outside the Metaverse, swearing to never go back inside the blood-colored cells.  
He learns how to shapeshift, to become one with the Shadow on the thief's mask, both inside and outside of the app's world. He finds it strange how his true self melded with the character he created to get out of his parent's stern words, but he doesn't mind it, he likes the character anyway. Thinking back on it, he wasn't sure what his true self was either, but he trusted that Arsene (the only thing he could shapeshift to without any help from other Shadows) and the Joker outfit had something to do with it, and he liked both of those things too.  
On December 24th, the Akira from the other world unknowingly left him behind in the Velvet Room. Surprised by the sudden separation, he recoiled to a perfect imitation of his student self. He watched as Lavenza turned into a butterfly and bolted, and understandably so: Yaldabaoth was a threat to her and anyone who wasn't born in his realm.  
He glared daggers at him, even if he knew it meant nothing to the god.  
"If you think I'm going to go back to your disgusting red cells, you are severely mistaken."  
Then the Shadow leaves, going to the one place he truly knew well.  
A Palace is surprisingly easy to manifest when you already have most of the ideas planned out. A safe place for everyone to be in, and a theater that would project plays to the world so everyone could praise all he put his soul to and, even if it's just briefly, give a little bit of hope to the hopeless. By the time he was done, everything was set up so performances would show up on all the big screens in Japan and get projected to Mementos. A flow of guests and all the actors were already waiting inside. It happened in just a few seconds, but goddamn if it didn't take effort.  
He was about to enter, and the realization struck him. He didn't know until when he had to perform. Likely forever.  
Without noticing, two chains rose from the ground and cuffed each of his wrists. Instinctively, he tried to take them off. No use. He added wings to his back and flew as far and fast as he could, trying to see if it would shatter them. No use again, the chains seemed unending. He landed back on the entrance, starting to feel alarmed. He quickly calmed himself back down, thinking that if they didn't restrict his movement entirely, it wasn't a problem. He'd just have to pretend they weren't there.  
Back to the problem at hand, he didn't like the idea of doing this forever. He wanted to spend time with his friends too, and just picturing having to dance around entertaining so many people at once was already exhausting him.  
So he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and used the twins as reference. When he opened them again, it was the Joker outfit standing in front of him, the space between sleeves and gloves cuffed as well. Deep down he already figured there wasn't anything at his core, but it was depressing to have that fact stare right at him. It didn't take long before the clothes reddened, if only just slightly, and came to life. It manifested a tophat, and used it to bow dramatically at yellow-eyed Akira.  
He couldn't help but chuckle lightly. If it was already like this without a crowd, he would be the best entertainer the world ever laid its eyes on. He created a marker and scribbled on the empty space where his mouth would be, and used the first Calling Card as reference. Then he made a copy of his mask, the real one was all the way at the depths of his preparation room, and put it where his eyes would be. Then a pair of golden paper eyes opened behind it.  
"There. Now you can express yourself a little bit better" he says, taking a step back to admire his work  
"Thank you, Akira!" the new Shadow announced. His voice was near identical, but it seemed to speak through a radio's microphone. His mouth barely moves, just like Igo- Yaldabaoth's did.  
"Don't you worry, _Joker_ " he winks, almost as if the name was some sort of inside joke.  
"Well!" Joker clapped his hands together "I'll be headed off then. A theater needs a main performer, no?" Joker turns and starts heading for the main door, though stopping briefly to look over his shoulder as if he'd almost forgotten something. "You should do something about the scars. You don't want them to see them, right?"  
Before Akira could answer, Joker was already out of his view. He looked down to his arms, and they were all covered in lines.  
_The guillotine._  
Right.  
He was sure his face was covered in them too. He sighed and shifted so it looked like they were never there.  
Despite that small detail and the chains appearing, he was looking forward to the show. He went inside, eager to bond with all his friends again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK SO HI. hello. heres how we're gonna do this: this au has been in my mind since late march (it is mid-november as i write this,), and i already have the full story for it but guess what i have to write it (i genuingly made an ao3 just for this) so i have no idea how long it will actually be nor when will it update (as i have an insta edit acc that i care abt and also school so thats fun!!), but know for granted i want to finish this. im also making this a series so i can dump au-related stuff without interrupting the main story (like third semester, for example). hope you all enjoy reading as much as the satisfaction i get from finishing this <3


	2. Important Words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i listened to not allowed by tv girl/iomilo by billie eilish/devil's advocate by the neighborhood on loop while writing most of this hell yeah. have fun!

He was just small enough to fit in a corner where Akira wouldn't spot him.  
Everything had just flooded back to him, in just the few seconds where he watched everyone he cared about fade before him.  
He was in the Velvet Room, his place of birth, and it just served as a jail for the ill-treated guest. It wasn't meant to be like this, it never was.  
A prisoner lay in a stone bed, one hand reaching out to something intangible. He wanted to reach out so badly, tell his leader to be careful, that it's dangerous-  
“Where are they?” the prisoner’s voice was small, trembling.  
He received no response.  
Akira was paler than usual, almost as if he'd just woken up from a bad dream. For all it was, Morgana wished it had been.  
Akira took a deep breath, likely dreading whatever he was going to face, and stood up, a ball and chain rattling briefly with the movement.  
Morgana so much as peeked behind the stone and found three more people, all at the other side of the small cell's bars: two twins, one at each side, and a long nosed man who had taken his master’s place.  
The girls spotted Morgana, and their eyes widened. He had an inkling as to why, ~~they were the pieces of a broken attendant~~ , and felt a pit in his stomach when he realized it.  
Hopefully his presence would help her remember.  
A hauntingly familiar voice left the warden at the center "In the end, your rehabilitation was not carried through. It appears I have underestimated you… "  
"Where did my teammates go?" Akira urged.  
A dark chuckle echoed.  
Akira was mere inches from the bars, he didn't flinch when the right one slammed a baton to it, "You incompetent prisoner!"  
The other shook her head "The assistance we provided was all for naught"  
The warden continued "Humans are more apathetic… and more foolish than I had thought them to be" _Lies._ "The world will soon see it's ruin… " _Monster._ "You have lost the game. You were meant to bring change to mankind as a Trickster, but it seems that was too much for you"  
Morgana froze, the weight of his last words was not lost on anyone. His eyes darted to his leader and found something that, if he hadn't spent all those sleepless nights with him, he wouldn't have noticed: fear. Akira was scared. And not in the way where he was trembling or crying, he was as still as a stone, taking calm, labored breaths.  
"In accordance to the game's rules, the defeated must pay a price," the tranquillity in the man's voice was cruel "Your life is forfeit."  
If only just slightly, Akira straightened. His eyes must have widened to owls too.  
The twins turned to the warden, astonished.  
The warden didn't pay them mind, "I sentence you to be executed" intentions were finally shed to light.  
 _He wouldn't dare._  
"Executed…?"  
"God's decree is absolute…" _I hope you burn_ "My experiment has come to naught… Everything is over" it took effort for Morgana not to lunge "Grant that man a swift death."  
The pair exchanged looks "If that's what our master wishes…" _he's not your master he's not our master he's -_  
Akira kept quiet, at best sparing a glance to both twins.  
"I-It just means you weren't an upstanding prisoner…!" an answer to an unspoken question.  
"That… may be true, but… " was she starting to remember?  
The warden cut them off "What is the matter? Carry out his sentence at once"  
More doubt, more _hope_ , crept into the left's voice "Are we really going to kill him… ?"  
"Don't falter now!" the right insisted, more to herself than anyone else "It's all his fault for losing the game!"  
A jolt of electricity ran through the metal bars. Akira took a stiff step back.  
He was _not_ going to die like this.  
And yet what could he do?  
He rolled back and prayed to luck that he wouldn't be spotted. If he was, they were all done for.  
Akira was gone from the cell, dragged out to the center of the room. Morgana was backed up against the marble, nothing left than to try and will the lost attendant back into existence.  
A distant voice, belonging to one of the halves.  
Another, belonging to the undeserving prisoner.  
The crinkle of a flame, louder and louder until it became the familiar sound of rebellion.  
The door shattered, metal loud against the walls.  
"How insolent… "  
 _You can do this._  
"Death to the prisoner!"  
He wanted nothing more than to rush in, but Morgana had to trust him. He had to just wait a little longer, things would be okay, she'd come back.  
He could listen for the hits, electricity, ice, wind, bullets, but he heard no calling for a Persona. He had to be enduring it all- maybe some kind of plan?- but now was not the time! She needed to remember, more than anything else-  
Fire roared and quieted down. He could see traces of ember floating in front of him. But there wasn’t any move to follow up.  
“Caroline…” one gasped “Caroline, this power- it’s as I thought!”  
“What’s the matter?” the warden cut in.  
“Justine, I told you not to falter!” Caroline retorted “Are you going against our master’s orders?!”  
Another bullet hail, followed by shattering ice. Joker gave no sign of fighting back.  
“No, this isn’t right” Justine stopped “Our duty isn’t to kill him!”  
“Are you saying there’s…” Caroline hesitated “another duty left to us?”  
Metal clanked against the floor, followed by a grunt of pain. The thief was still alive.  
“I believe I ordered his execution”  
He expected attacks to continue: a nuclear move, psychokinesis, curses, blessings even, but none made a move to obey.  
“Master…” Caroline started “Have you forsaken humanity?”  
“We are wardens--those who rehabilitate prisoners” Justine followed “Something speaks to me in my mind. Our true duty is not to kill…”  
 _You’re almost there!_  
“We are not executioners” Justine said, resolute “That is the truth we had forgotten.”  
A small, quick sound of agony, followed by both hitting the ground.  
“Your right eye, and my left…” Caroline whispered “It’s as if the same, yet mirrored…”  
Shoes against marble, they stood up.  
“I finally remember… How we were torn ‘apart’.”  
Likely still weakened from the ‘fight’, Joker managed a hoarse “You… remember?”  
“We were originally one…” Justine provided “Yet we were torn asunder into halves… by malevolent intent!” _Yes!_  
The next moments passed quickly, even if he saw none of it. Joker got up, he helped the twins set up the guillotines. They snapped, the noise ringing in Morgana’s head. Before he knew it, he heard the knowing voice of the missing:  
“My name… is Lavenza” she introduced herself “I was torn apart by a malevolent will, and took the form of those twins. I sought help before my body was split in two: I believed in you. I knew that you would make it thus far.”  
Morgana was curious to know Akira’s expression.  
He heard a heel turn “And to the scoundrel who has swindled my master’s name…”  
“The game isn’t over yet” the warden interrupted.  
He heard a swirl of small fire- one he heard time and time again echoed in the depths’ walls. The voice that came was an unmistakable one.  
“Whether the human world is left as is or destroyed and rebuilt, it is all sport to me.”  
To think the Treasure of Mementos simply lay here the whole time,  
“What are you?” Joker demanded  
watching absolutely _everything_ unfold  
“If I were to put it into words that you can comprehend, I am the Holy Grail that grants wishes”  
and felt nothing. A disgusting form of content, even, if the unsettling patience was anything to go by.  
“No… It may be more accurate to say that I am a god who responds to desire and holds dominion over man. I hoped seeing a righteous thief vanquish evil would spur mankind to change their own indolent hearts… However, the result is as you know- the masses have made it so none of it has transpired.” Morgana’s blood was boiling. How dare he try to guilt his leader when he’d been the one avoiding every single bullet the Grail himself had thrown at him.  
“But to be frank, Inmate, I believe it may be worth reevaluating you. A human has reached the Holy Grail and has seen through my true identity… You’ve surprised the god that I am often enough. That cannot be done by a foolish commoner, truly a prisoner that did not bore me. Perhaps observing you a while longer may prove amusing…”  
The false god was scheming something, another trap. Morgana wanted to howl.  
“Should you wish it, I shall return the world to it’s prior state-- one rampant with distorted masses-”  
Lavenza interrupted, furious “You forcefully dragged him into the Metaverse and imposed an ordeal he did not deserve, and yet you still intend on toying with him?!”  
“-the Phantom Thieves will be praised and gain fame. The world will escape ruin as well.” the Grail continued, ignoring Lavenza entirely,"what say you?”  
No reply.  
He waited.  
No reply again.  
Just silence.  
It was deafening.  
He couldn’t be- he couldn't _really_ be considering it, right? There was no way, he- he was surely just coming up with what to say. He was thinking how to phrase a denial that would leave the Grail with no room for negotiation, he wasn’t big on words anyway. He wasn’t genuinely considering the deal, and was not about to fall into manipulative hands. He just had to wait a moment longer and the god would be gone, this would all be over soon.  
Joker finally spoke.  
“Very well”  
The air turned to ice.  
"On one condition" he was firm now “You will bring my teammates back."  
The vile being let out a slow, hollow laugh "Then the deal has been struck."

In a quick, sharp blink of an eye, he woke up. He was back to his feline self, cuddled to the blankets of the attic's empty, unmade bed.  
Had he been dreaming?  
The room still looked as normal as it would be on a weekend morning. The sky outside the window was blue now, there was no trace of the fusion ever happening. Dust floated beneath the light, settling on whatever furniture or item it could find. He could hear kitchenware being used downstairs, the TV was on too.  
“ _...several hospital directors admitted to their involvement, contrary to earlier statements denying such. A calling card was delivered, so it is speculated the Phantom Thieves are at it once again._ ”  
He didn’t remember ever doing anything regarding a hospital or having discussions about it, least of all talking about sending a calling card. And even so, hadn't the Thieves left media attention since Okumura?  
The wood barely creaked when he went down the stairs. The store was still closed, he jumped to the counter. Akira was making breakfast.  
"Morning" he hadn't looked up from the pot  
"Morning" Morgana greeted back, just like they'd do every weekend. _Please tell me I was just dreaming._  
He waited patiently for him to be done with his cooking; for an opportunity to bring _it_ up.  
Akira pulled up a stool to sit on the kitchen-side of the counter, he’d made himself the usual curry and coffee. Minutes passed, in any other situation, the quiet from the morning routine would be peaceful. The TV played in the background, both absent-mindedly listened to it while Akira was busy with his food and Morgana tried coming up with what to say.  
“ _...the police have officially withdrawn the arrest warrant on the Phantom Thieves…_ ”  
He perked up, ears flicking directly to the TV “You hearing this?”  
“Hm?” he looked away from his plate, reading the headline on screen “‘ _Arrest warrant on the Phantom Thieves withdrawn_ ’...” his eyebrows raised “huh, would you look at that”, he went back to eating, seeming to not spare the news much more than a second thought.  
Wasn’t he the one that was unendingly stressed about getting caught again? Wouldn’t he be elated? Well, he was never one to make a big deal about things on the outside anyway, but “aren’t you happy?”  
“Of course I am”  
The reporter goes on “ _Due to drastic change in policy, it is speculated that they had a change of heart as well…_ ”  
What?! But when- how- Akira didn’t even bat an eye.  
He hoped he didn’t sound as nervous as he felt “Hey, do you know anything about that?”  
Akira took a sip of his coffee, “Maybe it’s related to yesterday? We _did_ go pretty far down... “  
“I don’t know…”  
He put his coffee down, “Oh yeah, you said you were starting to get your memories back, right?”  
“Yeah”  
Akira nodded, signaling to go on. Even if he accepted a deal with someone who rivaled Morgana’s existence, his concern was genuine. But then again, the Grail could be watching…  
“I…” he steadied himself “I was born in Mementos, like I said yesterday. I was supposed to be a regular Shadow, one of the guards in the depths, but I grew sympathetic to the people behind the bars. How I got out and lost my memories is still a blur, but…” it was his fault they ended up like this. He’d failed on his sole mission, and instead succeeded in helping the Grail “I’m sorry”  
Akira was much more calm than he should have been “Don’t apologize." he said softly “I told you yesterday: none of that was your fault. It’s ok, alright?” he reached out and pet Morgana’s head, to which he inevitably leaned into the touch. But then again, he couldn’t just drop the topic. He titled his head to the side.  
“About that. Do you know what happened then… ?”  
Akira owned fake glasses for a reason. If he had them on, Morgana wouldn’t have noticed the widened eyes that vanished as soon as they appeared “I don’t think we have to worry about that”  
“We got kicked out though”  
“And right now we’re fine” he was way too quick to answer “World’s back to normal now. Hell, we don’t have to worry about the police coming after us again”  
“But we didn’t destroy the Treasure” he objected “Doesn’t that… worry you?”  
Akira’s eyes darted far from where Morgana was “I, look…” he sighed “In that in between, I did a few things. Got some connections y’know? Things should be fine now”  
Morgana knew this was true, but Akira didn’t know that “I’m with you 24/7, I’d know if it were the case”  
“Could’ve been while you were asleep” he deflected  
“I’d notice if it were” then Morgana said, voice much smaller now, “we left the Holy Grail alone, do you even _know_ what that caused”  
Whatever morning drowsiness still left on his expression was gone “Because we tried to fight the Holy Grail,” he said, “we ended up fusing Mementos with reality and we pretty much saw ourselves _die_ yesterday. Yes, I’m well aware.”  
 _What about Lavenza?!_ he wanted to yell. He bit his tongue, but still said “Yeah, and for all we know it could happen again, so we need to go back and fight it!”  
Akira’s eyes narrowed “We don’t know if we’ll win, you know that right?”  
“Of course I do! But that doesn’t mean-”  
Akira cut him off, dead serious now “Again, we don’t know if we’ll win. I've already paid the consequences of taking more than I can chew, I'm not letting it happen again and _much_ less if you're all involved."  
He could feel his tail flicking “The Phantom Thieves would never back out.”  
“What does that even matter?” he let shards of impatience slip “It’s not like the oh-so-great Phantom Thieves even _existed_ to anyone”  
“That’s not-!”  
“You know it’s true” he went on “We were just a damned entertainment outlet, and you know what?” he stood, lifting both hands up “I don't care! They can have as many fucking drama plays as they need if thats what they want!"  
“You’re running away!” the ~~right~~ wrong thing to say  
“And what of it?!” he yelled “Last time I didn't run I fucked myself over, and I'm _not_ letting that happen to any of you. If it were just me, fine, I'll do it, I'll die if I need to! But sadly, that's not an option I can just _take_ ”  
Morgana took a few steps back, he didn’t like this “Akira, you-”   
Akira slammed both hands to the counter “You got your memories back,

" _Akira_!"

"WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!”

  
The cafe went silent.  
Akira was out of breath.  
His eyes were glassy.  
One.  
Two.  
Three.  
Four.  
Five seconds passed.  
“Sorry” Akira murmured, shoving his hands on the apron’s pockets “I shouldn’t have said that”  
Morgana was still stunned.  
“The app is gone from my phone” he admitted, voice still small “Even if we wanted to, I can’t go to the Metaverse” he took a shaky breath “I’m sorry”  
At one point, Morgana needed to speak “I’m going to check something out outside,” he turned for the entrance “see you”  
The door closed with the familiar chime.

He never truly realized how warm Akira's bag was until he was sprinting down the streets, the stone-cold boardwalk clashing against his paws as he ran to Futaba's house.  
He could have sworn he heard a plate drop and break from a distance, it sounded like it came from Leblanc, or maybe from one of the nearby stores, it didn't matter.  
Something was wrong. And Akira wouldn't be able to help him.  
He jumped up the wall to reach the front door, thankfully Boss had left it unlocked. He nudged it just enough for his whiskers to fit and went inside, praying Futaba wasn't asleep even if there wasn’t any light from her room leaking down the hallway.  
"Futaba" he whispered, pushing the door open " _Futaba_."  
"Hm?" She was on her chair cross-legged, slowly pushing herself away from the glow of a code-filled monitor to turn to him "Mona?"  
How would he word this?  
"I…" he jumped onto her bed and got closer to her eye level "Were you eavesdropping on Leblanc?"  
"Nope, was busy with something else" she turned back to face her screen "By the way, do you know what happened with Mementos?" Great.  
"About that-" He climbed on to her desk, sitting beside her keyboard "Do you still have the Nav?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Can we arrange a meeting without Akira?"  
As expected, she raised an eyebrow at the question "I mean, we _can_ , but why?"  
He wasn’t about to acknowledge the possibility that started creeping to the back of his mind mid-argument right here and then. Nor was he going to just admit he’d argued with him less than ten minutes ago. If he was going to say it, he was only going to say it once, and that would be once everyone who needed to know was there to listen.  
“Just trust me. It’s important.” He finally answered  
She tilts her head, as if about to open her mouth to object (and he doesn’t blame her, he’d probably be even more hesitant to the idea), but gives up and sighs dramatically “fine.”  
He leaned closer to the computer and watched the hacker tap away, tabs and text changing faster than he could ever keep up with. Akira’s phone at least had a system he could understand, and didn’t have nearly as much stuff in one go. Then it stopped on a screen he more or less recognized: IM. The background was different if it was, at least. Instead of the usual red, there was Featherman art and all the characters had the same poses of the figurines on Futaba’s shelf. He switched his focus to the messages.

_Group chat: Emergency meeting :^_   
_December 25th, 20xx_

ALIBABA: heyyyyyyy gang, y’all good/still alive? mona wants to meet up without akira _10:26 AM_

ALIBABA: anyone have ideas on where? _10:26 AM_

ZIO: all good i think, but why without akira? _10:26 AM_

ZIO: also _10:26 AM_

INARI: I’m fine, thank you. But I must ask the same question, why do we need to meet without him? _10:26 AM_

ZIO: has anyone seen the news? _10:26 AM_

BIKER GANG BUT COOLER: I think my house could work, let me ask Sis _10:26 AM_

BIKER GANG BUT COOLER: and yes, i did. We didn’t do any of that, did we? _10:27 AM_

BIKER GANG BUT COOLER: be right back _10:27 AM_

ZIO: YEAH i couldve swornnnn that i wouldve remembered if we changed the heart of ppl trafficking organs _10:27 AM_

ZIO: and the warrant got removed!!! _10:28 AM_

PANTHER THE MODEL: Because of a “”speculated change of heart”” (?) _10:28 AM_

ALIBABA: was digging this morning, the cases are real but apparently the media thinks we were involved??? _10:28 AM_

PANTHER THE MODEL: Do you think someone faked it to look like us? 10:28 AM

ALIBABA: why would they do that tho _10:28 AM_

ALIBABA: last i checked everyone hated us lol _10:28 AM_

PANTHER THE MODEL: Idk. _10:28 AM_

PANTHER THE MODEL: Oh and hi why do we need to meet without akira is he ok _10:28 AM_

BEAUTY THIEF: My apologies for answering so late, I just finished reading (I’m okay as well, thank you Futaba). Although, I'm not sure why we need to meet without him ? Is he okay ? _10:28 AM_

ALIBABA: mona said to trust him ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ _10:29 AM_

ALIBABA: mona also says akira’s fine _10:29 AM_

PANTHER THE MODEL: :< _10:29 AM_

PANTHER THE MODEL: Fine _10:29 AM_

ALIBABA: :v _10:29 AM_

ALIBABA:@biker gang but cooler any luck? _10:29_

BIKER GANG BUT COOLER: she says it’s fine. Does lunch work? _10:30 AM_

ALIBABA: yep, thx uwu _10:30 AM_

Then Futaba leaves her chair. She opens her (messy) closet and puts on a jacket, the same fuzzy one she always wears. Then she turns to the fuzzy cat with her regular boots in hand, and frowns.  
“How am I gonna get you all the way to Makoto’s house?” she asked, more to herself than to Morgana. Then she snapped her fingers “Sojiro, right” and continued to get herself ready, including grabbing her phone and laptop.  
Her plan apparently was to have Boss take her by car, which made Morgana forget about everything that happened minutes prior (he wasn't the car! How could one NOT be excited?!).  
He sat on Futaba’s lap and giddily studied every little piece. A little bit smaller, sure, but he was proud of himself for getting all the details right. He wished he could walk on the backseats, actually get a grasp of what Ryuji meant when he said the seats were comfortable. Or or pull at the lever, he knew that Joker used it a lot in -  
Right. Joker. He wasn't behind the wheel this time.  
He fell asleep on Futaba's lap after they left Yongen.

Makoto’s house was an apartment that lacked the long hallway on Futaba’s, the living room and dining table were just past the front door. Ryuji was reading manga on the sofa, Haru was talking to Makoto on the dining table, Lady Ann and Yusuke were making small talk with Sae on the counter. Apparently they were the last ones to get there.  
Morgana jumped to the top of a sofa-chair and cleared his throat, getting the Thieves' attention.  
"Good afternoon, my fellow thieves" he started, watching Lady Ann and Yusuke head for the sofa, and Sae leave the room from the corner of his eye "As we all know, yesterday was hectic"  
The room was staring at him intently. Suddenly he wanted to bite his past self for ever wanting the spotlight so badly "In those events, I managed to get my memories back"  
"Is it what you thought it was?" Lady Ann sat beside Ryuji.  
He shook his head "Not really. Which is part of why I...didn't want to have our leader here" he didn't mean to mumble on the last part.  
"Hm?"  
He didn't want to dance around the topic. Maybe it'd be easier to explain if he could confirm his theory "Can someone open up the Nav?"  
Nobody forgets their leader wasn't here. They exchange uneasy glances, but Makoto takes out her phone anyway "What are you planning?"  
He takes a deep breath. He's never wanted to be more wrong.  
"Akira Kurusu, the Trickster on probation who goes by the codename Joker."  
Ryuji had already jumped off his seat, "You _moron_ , why would you-"  
The app beeped.  
 _Candidates found._  
He shut up, owl-eyed, sinking back into the sofa, and Morgana could feel his fur standing on end.  
Stunned into silence, nobody said a word. And of course they didn't, they wanted to pretend they didn't hear it, just like Morgana did.  
Eventually though, such silence must always be broken. Makoto was the one to do it, letting out a small whisper "Persona users aren't supposed to have Palaces"  
Futaba settled to a gargoyle crouch on a table chair “Yeah yeah, that’s right! He was doing just fine yesterday, right?”  
Morgana wasn’t sure if ‘fine’ was the right word. He must’ve been making a face, Yusuke had caught on “did something happen between then and now?”  
After running things over in his mind once or twice, and still feeling terrible about his inability to do something about it, he told the team everything: from going back to the Velvet Room, to remembering his purpose and what he was, to what Akira was doing there, to how he was being manipulated to Lavenza to the accepted deal. Then to waking up the next morning and arguing, then to when he fled to Futaba’s house. Though nobody interrupted, you could see gears turning based on just their expressions.  
“So that would explain the overflowing news about the Thieves…” Haru mused when he finally finished “I think I had a similar experience to Mona-chan’s.”  
“Yeah, me too.” Lady Ann added, “After we…disappeared, I dreamt of being in a blue cell, and people were yelling far away.”  
“And then when they were done, you woke up in your room as if nothing even happened, right?” Ryuji finished.  
Ann nodded.  
“So it’s safe to assume that’s what Akira meant by ‘bring them back’, yes?” Makoto asked.  
He nodded “Exactly.”  
“But at the cost of sacrificing the Mementos mission…” Yusuke glanced at Makoto's phone “...And causing that.”  
He couldn’t help but look down “Yeah.”  
Before the room could fall back to uncomfortable silence, Lady Ann took initiative “What are the rest of the keywords?”  
He shook his head “I never checked.”  
“D’you think it’s Shujin? A ton of people hated him there.”  
 _Conditions have not been met._  
“How about the police station?” Haru tried “After all that’s happened, it wouldn’t be surprising.”  
No hits.  
Yusuke leaned forward on his seat “Perhaps Leblanc?”  
It beeped.  
Futaba gasped “But isn’t it technically his home?”  
“It may be related to how it used to be our hideout” Yusuke said  
“Ok, so we’re just missing the distortion” Ryuji didn’t miss a beat and turned expectedly at Morgana “ideas?”  
He thought it over for a second. He remembered all the times Akira made jokes about performances, how he taunted Shadows from time to time -  
“Theater”  
Immediate hit.  
Lady Ann exhaled shakily “That’s it, then”  
Ryuji scanned the group “Is it unanimous?” he waited, daring anyone to try to object, though everyone nodded.  
Haru laced her hands together on her lap “Do we want to go now?”  
Makoto looked unsure “I want to, but wouldn’t he spot us? We’d need to make sure he doesn’t”  
Futaba whipped out her phone “I still have his phone bugged” she swiped rapidly for a few seconds “He’s serving customers. If we can go in from outside we should be fine” she puts her phone on her pocket again “We should check again on the Yongen station though”

* * *

Makoto found a bag for Ann to carry Morgana with. The subway was busy as always, and the group of eerily quiet, colorfully-clothed teens stuck out perfectly. At least she wasn’t on her own, Ryuji’s neon shirt definitely avoided some of the glances she’d normally get.  
They piled up on the metro (thankfully it wasn’t rush-hour full) and Ann sat down with the bag on her lap, the perfect moment for everything that happened in the last day or so to catch up to her: she thought she’d basically died the day before, to be completely honest that cell could have easily been part of the process to take her to heaven- or hell, if Carmen and Hecate were any indication, and yet she was still standing. And as if that weren’t enough, Akira was the one to pull them out and…  
And…  
And developed a Palace.  
Dammit, Futaba had a Palace too, and there wasn’t anything wrong with her, why was she so nervous about this?! All they had to do was go inside, discover her friend and leader was actually a twisted human just like all the ones from before and that her entire life the past few months had been a complete waste, that all of this had been for nothing and that she should have just pushed him away when he reached out-  
Okay. Maybe she was exaggerating.  
It didn’t change that she wasn’t looking forward to finding out what went on in his mind though, if he had a Palace there was no way that whatever went on there could be good.

Leblanc was normally somewhere she liked going to, their wariness when they got close was unfamiliar.  
As quietly as possible, the world changed around her.  
They weren’t in the thin backstreets anymore, their surroundings mirrored a central square, and a gigantic building towered over everything else. People were excitedly lining up to go inside, the ticket office was just barely visible.  
“Is this it?” Noir whispered.  
“It’s huge!” Oracle gasped, already analyzing the place.  
Before anyone else could say anything more, a voice Ann recognized came out of a speaker.  
“Well wouldn’t you know! You made it!”  
She turned to find the source, and found Akira, fit perfectly in his Metaverse clothes and domino mask, floating his way towards them. All he needed was an umbrella and he would have looked like the new Mary Poppins.  
“I didn’t think you’d actually make it” radio static stayed in his voice, and silver eyes scanned the group “But it’s a nice surprise.” he grinned with a mischievous glint, boots finally touching the ground.  
“ _Joker?_ ” Queen asked, incredulous, “How’d you get here before us? Didn’t you say the app-”  
Joker cut her off “I was here to open the venue, and I haven’t left since then” he tilted his head and grinned wider, almost cheshire-like.  
“Are you the Shadow, then?” Morgana propped up.  
An unnatural chuckle escaped him, and metal irises melted into gold “Right you are, Magician”  
 _Magician._ She didn’t remember Akira ever using that nickname.  
The Shadow jumped up, and seemed to find an invisible table to sit on mid-air “But still, that shouldn’t stop you from going inside, right?” the thief's eyes narrowed to slits “I may be a fool, but I’m not ignorant! I know what you’re here to do” it laughed “Why wouldn’t I, anyway? You’re going to try and find the Treasure of this place to ‘fix’ Akira’s oh-so-broken heart.”  
Skull tapped his baton against his shoulder, “Wanna make our jobs easier and tell us where the Treasure is?”  
“It is in the deepest parts of this place” the Shadow hummed.  
“...Do you happen to have any other clues?” Fox tried.  
The Shadow sighs dramatically “What? Is that not enough for you?” he stands up, still a distance away from the ground, and snaps his fingers “Oh, I have an idea! How about we start fighting? I’ll even tell you my weakness” he pointed at his mask “It’s this!”  
There were wary looks around the group, though Oracle shrugs.  
“Go on, don’t be shy” his gaze met Ann's “Lovers, the whip would work perfectly”  
Had her face been lit on fire? “I- what?”  
She heard Skull snort “Man, what’s with the nicknames?”  
He rests his head on one hand “Hm, I’m pre-tty sure that’s her name”  
What?  
“What do you mean?” Makoto was cautious.  
Joker points a finger to everyone “Magician, Lovers, High Priestess -Priestess for short, Chariot, Hermit, Empress and Emperor” he pauses before anyone can object “Either way, weren’t we going to fight?”  
He sits back down and curls his hands on his lap, stripping them of the option to continue the conversation.  
Still unsure what to make of the names, she steadied the whip, and then hit.  
The mask came off flying and hit the ground, and what her view readjusted her to was something entirely different.  
It wasn’t so much what she saw, but more so the lack of it: the Joker outfit still wrapped the Shadow’s frame (it turned a few shades redder though), but there wasn’t anything beneath it except a doodled smile. Chains rose from the ground and cuffed the space where his wrists would be.  
In previous infiltrations, Shadows tended to transform when you fought them so the distortion would be more accurate. What was in front of her... would it count as his 'true form'?  
“Akira…” Noir whispered sadly.  
It must have been the wrong thing to say; the Shadow let out a deep, unnerving laugh, grin stretching even wider.  
“ _Akira?_ Empress, what do you mean, _Akira_?” the fallen mask floated its way onto his glove. He put it back on, and paper eyes opened behind it “Ah well, you must have confused names. It's Joker” he lifted himself higher and extended his arms “Pleasantries are over!” he announced, the radio filter more apparent by the second “I will let you play your game of thievery, but I must establish a rule: I have a theater to run, so I cannot allow you to disturb my workplace” he produces a top hat from thin air and bows “Good luck!”  
And just like that, he was gone.  
She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.  
She turned to the others, who looked just as stunned as she was.  
They'd think about it later, all they had to do now was actually start the mission.  
Pause.  
Joker wasn’t there to direct them.  
“What now?” she asked.  
Morgana takes a step forward “We go in”  
And so they did (through the front door too, for once they didn’t have to look through a secret entrance).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the way, i have an [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/name_lyrics/?hl=en) ! theres even a [joker palace-related ](https://www.instagram.com/p/CDF_RWhhXeG/) post :D


	3. Tourism

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiii hope your 2021s are starting off well!

The walk to the entrance door took much longer than he expected. 

Yusuke was sure that if the boardwalk had been empty, time would have flown and they would have been at the door in little time, but unfortunately there was a crowd dense enough to be an ocean and separate the entire group. 

He silently thanked whoever provided their otherworldly powers that Oracle's Persona could glide freely above them, he couldn't imagine the distress this situation would have caused her otherwise. 

“ _Skull don’t trip!”_

“ _I’m tryin’!”_

He was also grateful for their microphones, as well as Oracle's navigation skills. 

" _Okay, you're just a few metaphorical pixels away!"_

_"'Metaphorical'?"_

_"Uhhh like ten-fifteen more waves. I dunno."_

So many faces at once, all too fast to pause and take it all in, a unique contrast to the times he people-watched on relaxed subway hours (although, he could have sworn he recognized a few of them within these masses). 

“ _Okay, so it’s gonna be at least a few more minutes,”_ he heard Skull and Mona groan “ _You’re doing great I think! But anyway, I was thinking, we have our outfits on, so there’s one-hundred percent going to be Shadows in there, how’re we gonna choose who to fight?”_

A not-so-subtle reminder that they were leaderless.

“... _How about Queen?”_ Panther tried “ _She’s a good tactician!”_

 _“Thank you, Panther, but I don’t think I can tell who to ambush just based on outer appearance…”_ Queen trailed off _“I wonder…”_

 _“Shadows only need one hit to unmask,”_ Mona started “ _So how about Oracle?”_

Oracle gasped, scandalized _“You- you want me to punch Shadows?!”_

 _“No no, not that”_ he continued _“You can detect how dangerous they are from far away, right?”_

 _“Well, yeah, I_ guess _I can- Oh, ooooh! I think I get where you’re going! Do you want me to choose who you all get to punch?”_

 _“Yeah!”_ Mona beamed _“That good, everyone?”_

Several sounds of affirmation came through the earphone, including his own. 

“ _Sweet,”_ Oracle paused “ _Y’know what else is sweet? You’re all like two waves away! Get here already!”_

\--- 

The ticket office was automated and the tickets themselves were free, he noted. The glass box for it had reflective windows - deeming it impossible to look inside, and the line passed too quickly for someone (a Shadow?) to receive cash or to hand over a ticket at human speed (he wondered, not for the first time, how yen worked in the Metaverse).

They, in the end, were not here to watch a play, so he moved away from the intriguing sight, and followed the rest inside.

The venue was considerably less crowded (they had enough space to walk comfortably this time), but still crowded nonetheless. People came and went from all directions, all looking perfectly human (something to be thankful for. If “Joker” had been any indication, he should have been prepared to expect otherwise, though he wasn’t sure if he could have handled the added heartache of it). 

“Oh weird, no threatening Shadows around, except maybe, ugh, there’s so many people, I can’t tell what it is…” Oracle trailed off “Whatever. So, first thing’s first: anyone know where we can get a map?”

As if on cue, Skull pointed his thumb sideways “There’s an info stand over there, do we check it out?” 

The booth, no different than the ones in real-world tourist areas, had a window to a scarlet-eyed, grey-clad, female shadow in a suit with her hair tied into a bun.

“Greetings! Welcome to the Theater of Regret” she grinned as if the name were candy to her tongue “How may I help you?”

Noir frowned “Good day” she started “Do you happen to have a map to this place?”

“Of course I do. One moment” she disappeared briefly and came back with a brochure in hand “Here you go”

Oracle made a grabbing gesture “Ooh, gimme gimme!” and snatched it, reading it with most attentiveness. 

“Would you also like a tour of the installations?” 

They all exchanged looks.

“Should we?” Mona turned to their Navi.

Oracle piped up “The place is wayyyy bigger than what’s on here, it’s only the map for one area- this one”

“If we take the tour, would we gain intel?” Queen said.

Oracle shrugged “The map doesn’t show doors that would lead somewhere else”

Yusuke regarded the Shadow “A tour would be excellent, thank you”

\---

The hall was curved, from what he could see there were many decorated merchandise booths and dining areas. In the middle stood the theater itself, windowed enough to catch a glimpse of crimson seats and a marigolden roof. It was nothing short of one of the grand theaters he'd only seen photos of in exhibits, he wouldn’t be true to himself if he wasn't itching to go inside and truly appreciate the work cognition could conjure.

Then again, this wasn't just the cognition of the human mind, it was Akira's. 

The last time he’d infiltrated the Palace of someone he had known beforehand, it had been for Madarame. It had been obnoxious in its gaudiness, wretched, a cruel display of undeserving souls robbed of their dreams, all neatly packed away in frames-

He spotted something oddly sticking out and his thoughts stopped to a halt.

He was in a Palace, hence why he was sure he wasn't witnessing mirages: it was a person who had long, jade-black feathered wings (a vaguely familiar design, but he couldn’t place where from). He made a frame of the sight to commit it to memory, but they shifted position ever so slightly, revealing unmistakable raven curls and a Shujin uniform. 

He tilted his head and squinted.

… _There 's two?_

“Two what Fox?” 

Oh. He must have said that out loud. 

No matter, this could be important. 

"Look."

* * *

_Oh, that was the reading she was getting._

Against her better judgement, she took her goggles off (in her defense, she wanted to not have text and a red outline blocking her legit sight, everyone else could see normal no problemo, also what was even the point of wearing masks here the ruler probably had them memorized wait she was getting sidetracked) to verify what she saw. There was, in fact, a winged Akira with yellow eyes and a Shujin uniform in the midst of the crowd. 

Skull talked for her, rubbing the back of his neck “Maybe that’s just Joker?”

“No no, Emperor’s right” 

… 

…?! 

She jumped “Since when were you allowed to teleport!?” 

Joker’s Shadow was standing behind them, back to looking like _her_ Joker (eyes aside). Saying it was off-putting was an understatement.

He answered with a patient smile anyway “Ah, my mistake for not explaining. I guess you could say I’m… how do I put this…” he put a finger to his lips with a cheeky grin “ _stealthy”_

Silence.

Panther let out a breathless laugh “ _My god”_

Then they changed the topic, but Futaba didn't catch it, her mind drifted to what they’d seen of the jester so far:

When the mask came off, when he had been reduced to his Metaverse clothes and a single paper smile, her goggles had nearly exploded with text.

… He was _really_ powerful.

(And, yeah, she’d just about expected as much, but still... )

Then, apparently, there was another one (why?), but the reading was about the same as a regular strong Shadow. 

She zoned back in to Joker talking “-I’d love to stay and accompany you, but I have a performance coming up” he pulled out a tophat out of nowhere again “See you!” and slid off dramatically into nothingness. 

Her brows furrowed “Sorry gang, I missed most of that. Got stuck on ‘he can teleport and that’s stupid’.”

“Dude, your Shadow used to go all crucifix-” Skull stretched his arms and half-folded a leg behind him “and float up into thin air when it didn’t wanna talk to us”

Surely enough, she could picture it: talking to strangers, getting tired and zoom we’re out. 

“Damn” she muttered “my Shadow had it good.”

A one-shade-too-sweet voice interrupted them “My, I’m sorry for interrupting, would you like to continue the tour?” apparently their ‘tour guide’ was still idle, waiting for them.

As Queen busied herself in saying ‘we’ll continue later’, Skull wasted zero seconds and

“‘Kiraaaaaa!” 

-yelled in the new Shadow’s general direction, who turned with bristled wings.

He must have taken notice of Skull by then: his expression softened, motioning for them to come, and they did (she spotted Kasumi on the way, or at least her cognition, giving Akira a wave and walking away).

Like Joker when his mask came off, chains had left the ground at one point and cuffed his wrists. Unlike Joker, they were translucent and shaded in light blue, constantly between shattered and tight like a glitching hologram. 

“Hey there” there wasn’t any grainy filter on his words “I’m glad to see you could all make it” 

“Us too,” Queen greeted back.

Why would he have wings but still have chains keeping him down?

Ugh, never mind that, why were there were so many people, this was one hell of a dungeon, but then again Akira knew pretty much everyone in Tokyo so that was no surprise. At least they technically weren’t real…? Difficult dungeon but there was no real risk aside from Shadows. And whatever happened to the real world after the Mementos fluke. And Akira’s mental state.

That last one in particular sucked, if she had been an example- you know what, nope, she wasn’t going to think about that now, best to store that in the “Later or Never” folder and just focus on the conversation. 

Akira’s Shadow nodded “Let’s get going then” and started walking. 

She trailed behind the rest, though she had no clue where they were headed. 

They weaved through a few crowds, where she recognized zero people except wait was that a cognitive Nishima over there, and paused at a hauntingly familiar area. 

Like if Leblanc were one of the airport cafes she’d seen in pictures. Still homey, it kept it’s aesthetic, but it had tables and lacked an entrance since it was now out in the open venue, like a little corner of peace in an otherwise busy city.

Akira’s Shadow turned to the several-degrees-of-dumbfounded team “Make yourselves at home, I’ll usually be here if you need anything” and went on ahead. 

She made a beeline for the counter.

She could have sworn she heard Queen reach out for her (“wait!”), but she didn’t pay it or the disappearing weight of her goggles any mind, who gave a crap anyway the only person here with power was Akira and she trusted he wasn’t going to kill her ~~yet~~ (in hindsight, she should have updated them on the ‘weird reading’, but she had more urgent things in mind). 

If Dad was going to be _anywhere_ , it was going to be here.

And so, she got on a stool as if it were the real place and “Sojirooo!” she and another voice called out. 

Wait, another?

She glanced right and looked into a mirror.

Wait, she was back to normal clothes?

They both blinked at each other. 

The mirror waved cheerfully and turned her attention back to the counter “Sojirooo, I want curryyyy!”

And the familiar tone answered from the back “Another plate? Sheesh, alright”

She sighed in relief. Normal-sounding response, she’ll take it. 

The anomaly drove her doe-eyed gaze to Futaba “You want a plate too?” 

Slowly, she shook her head, too weirded out by the idea of eating Metaverse food “I’m good, I think”

The other tilted her head “Weird, could’ve sworn you always liked it” and walked off. 

She counted ten seconds: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine-

“Oracle, please be more careful before running off next time” Queen was behind her.

And so was everyone else, thief outfits gone. 

She pouted as she turned “Yeah, my bad, but I needed to know! Plus, no one’s gonna lay a finger on us-” the Shadow and her clone took a seat on a table nearby, but his wings blocked the view of whoever else was there “for now, anyway”

Before she realized it, she was walking to where they were. 

She saw cards being passed around (a game of Tycoon?), and several people were standing around it: Ryuji, Makoto, her cognitive clone and the very Shadow were sat tossing and concentrated, giving friendly taunts every now and then, while a cat Morgana was sat on top and the rest were crowded around watching, completely immersed in it. 

She stopped dead a foot away, a chill running down her spine. 

She remembered that game. 

They’d started it while waiting for everyone else to get to the cafe, but they continued playing until the end because they didn’t notice anyone coming in. She’d won that game with a last-minute Revolution and two eights in a row, a move that left Ryuji salted until about an hour after the start of their infiltration (one of her proudest games, really).

Her cognitive stood and slammed four cards down, shouting “REVOLUTION!” 

“Aw, come _on_!”

She took one step closer, standing between the cognitive Yusuke and Haru but far enough so they wouldn’t notice her presence. The clone heard her, looking up and time slowed, locking their brown-dashed-violet eyes.

The cognition’s irises burned.

It wasn’t hostile.

And yet her heartbeat began to ramp up. 

She wasn’t scared of her reflection like she was once upon a time. She didn’t feel the fear that made her jump back just in case it was a monster, no, never again in a thousand years, but something in her nerves was settling deep.

She was looking into something that shouldn’t be _hers_ despite everything in her screaming that it was. 

A deep voice interrupted the moment of glass “Futaba, are you okay? It’s your turn” 

“Hm?” she heard her voice double, glancing to Akira’s Shadow and processing his words “Right” and they both turned their attention back to the game, the cognitive pulling out a double eight with a proud smirk and ending the game as Tycoon (Ryuji groaned, Makoto sighed fondly). 

Her cognition laughed, and so did a few of the rest. 

Then the Shadow spoke “Alright, is everyone here?” 

“Yeah!” they all said in unison. 

“You all have a performance soon, so get ready. If anyone needs something, let me know.”

Everyone nodded again, and got off from their seats. Her cognitive shot an unreadable look in her direction, and started talking lighthearted trash to clone Ryuji as they all walked out of the cafe.

Her gaze followed them.

* * *

Ryuji, and the rest of the team, had watched the scene from a distance in pure shock. He would never forget it: Futaba had completely destroyed him in Tycoon. And there it had been, replaying right in front of him for everyone to see, the cognitive version of themselves making their first appearance and everything (he could have easily walked up to himself and talked, but… he wasn’t sure if he was ready for that yet). 

Futaba had prolly managed to get the attention of her double, they’d both stopped moving. Few seconds passed, and Kira’s Shadow said something he couldn’t hear, making them say “Hm?... Right” at the same time and turn back to the game, leaving the cognitive little shit to smirk like the devil and place her final cards, just like he remembered.

“That was… something” Panther started once they got to her table.

“Sure was” he sighed. 

He glanced at Futaba, expecting to see some kinda smile from seeing her victory again, but instead she was frozen, not even looking at them, training her eyes somewhere else. 

“They’re going towards the main area. We should follow” 

She… wasn’t going to boast? He damn well remembered going back and forth with her for a _while_ after they started that day’s infiltration (was a fun one though).

Huh, weird. 

Soon enough, they got up and left the make-do Leblanc (their outfits sparked back instantly), and started walking to where Futaba suggested.

For some reason, he ended up at the front of the pack, with the Navi herself walking next to him like a possessed mannequin.

If his memory was right, her Egyptian self pulled that move a lot. 

So Ryuji put a hand on her shoulder “Hey, Futa-Oracle, you cool?” 

She shuddered like she’d gotten electrified “Huh?” she swung her head left to right left to right until her goggles were on him “Oh” she sighed in relief “Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry about that, it’s just…” she put both hands up, and Ryuji braced for words to leave her mouth, but apparently she gave up and dropped them instead “I dunno. Nothing’s _oh this is bad_ wrong with my cognition” he glanced back to the rest for half a second “but it’s just… how do I put it… _uncanny_? Like if- wait hold that thought, we’re here”

* * *

Unsurprisingly, they had walked into a play in progress, and so the lights had been dimmed, but the spotlights gave enough leeway to observe his surroundings: A chandelier hung at the very center, surrounded by patterns that he couldn’t decipher leaking down the walls, something he would have loved to inspect closely. There were at least five floors worth of occupied seats leading to the ceiling, four that served as balconies and one at the base, where the latter had been divided in three to give walking space towards the main attraction: the stage. 

A classic red curtain had been pulled to its sides, and on it were two people playing darts as if it were an ordinary day: one, Akira, who had just scored a bull, and a brunette, dressed in blue and white argyle, just like- 

“Um, please correct me if I’m mistaken” Noir said delicately, a barely audible whisper “but cognitions of the deceased cannot exist, can they not?”

“They shouldn’t… ” Mona replied, crossing his furred arms in equal concern.

“And they don’t” a radio voiced in monotone. 

Behind them, once again, was Joker.

“For unavailable actors, I use cards to create substitutes” canary irises turned fluorescent in the dark “Justice in particular is fun to taunt Akira with” he mused darkly, accompanied by a miniscule -yet entertained- smile “I better get back to what I was doing. My substitute works fine, but it’s always an enhanced experience with the real thing” 

Just like before, Joker dissipated, only this time the one on stage shuddered.

For a while, only the distant sound of the Penguin Sniper’s music echoed. 

“....There’s a door at the left that’s not on the map. We should try there” 

* * *

Once the door closed, the lights went back up and- okay. Okay. Three different things to keep in mind: 

  * The third rare and/or unexplainable reading of the day, and by far the weirdest: tiny, held a contrast of both _zero_ power and a _lot_ , and to top it off, it wasn’t a Shadow. But it was well a ways away from their spot, so it was the least worrying. 
  * Keeping up the tradition of Palace infiltration, Shadows had started roaming. From a first glance, it was nothing they couldn’t handle, but let’s not forget they were missing their strongest party member, so the truth in that statement was something to be verified later. 
  * If how the Shadows were organized was anything to go by, they were in a maze. 



“Big, _huge_ maze” was all she could blurt out. A beat, and she composed herself “We’re gonna need a map if we wanna make progress” 

She may have missed a fourth (and maybe a fifth, sixth and seventh, for all she knew): 

  * Shadow was about to turn the corner and get to them. 



And just as she processed it, a literal human-sized card with shoes for legs and pencil-drawn arms (a spear on one of them) did exactly that. 

Panther yelped and sliced it in two with her whip before anyone could do anything (she needed an award or something for her reflexes), melting it to the usual black-and-red ooze.

So back to a semblance of normalcy they were: she jumped on Prometheus as their surroundings flattened to something that could work as an impromptu battlefield, and three bloodthirsty teddy bears began floating around. 

Dazed by Panther’s strike, the first move was theirs,

“I don’t have this one, you’ll have to look for a weakness!” she said in autopilot. 

Skull brought the monkey-on-a-cloud out and yelled “Ziodyne!” with his full might, knocking one backwards but not down.

“Nada” she reported back as Noir jumped next, Astarte throwing out a Mapsio and making them simply flinch. 

She tsk’d “Resist” but based on patterns - “Hey Joker! Try some nuclear next!” she called right as the teddy bears made bullets bounce around the area in groups of three. She grabbed a handful of her hair, realizing her mistake when Mona yelled “Do I switch with Queen?” in between hits. 

“Y-Yeah, my bad!”

(And lucky shot, Queen floored them with a single Mafreidyne)

  
  


The few steps forward they took with the encounter gave view to a rippled door to their left (special thanks to Morgana for pointing out the safe room), the hallway continuing to their right, and two doors set one next to the other directly in front. 

The first had a honey-brown tone with two silver plaques, one reading “The Fool”, and the other reading“Joker”, and below she counted twenty-three rectangle slots divided evenly in two rows, the odd one out on top with a card inside. 

“Some kind of lock, perhaps?”

The second door was marine, the silver metal on it reading “Control Room”

“My money’s on a map being there”

They went in (maps were important!).

Once inside, she could admit she had been expecting cameras. Futaba had been expecting cameras, the map, and maybe a few items for later use in plain view if she rolled a high luck stat today, not this tiny cinema-place-room-library.

The only thing that kept them from going blind when they closed the door behind them was the eerie glow of a wall-wide screen at the other side of the room, projecting the play that had been going on earlier and leaving everything tinted in dark blue. To keep up with the “cinema-place-room-library” title, there were a few seats to watch the projection, and a library wall that was filled to the very most. If she took a peek in the spaces in between, she would find that there was another one behind it. And another, and another, and more stretching out as far as she could see and impossible to touch. To her benefit, there was a glowing tablet in front with the text “SCRIPTS” on it. A tap, and it brought up a menu, displaying several folders with dates and names but three were at the top with a little star:

  * **Recollection and foreboding:** on his way back home, Akira hears a woman and a drunk man arguing. Concerned for the woman’s safety, he steps in, a choice that was never taken back. 



The assault that brought him to Tokyo, she guessed. He’d said little about it, but the small, muted preview the screen gave looked like her personal nightmare. 

  * **Awakening:** Akira finds his convictions, thus forming a contract and summoning Arsene. 



While she was yet to be a witness, she knew that most awakenings happened when you ripped off the mask super-glued to your face, but -“Hey, Skull, really, how did you not pass out on Joker’s awakening?” she said, unable to tear her eyes away from the rectangle sneak peek. 

“Right?! Shit was _terrifying,_ I tell you!” he piped up from one of the seats (when had they all sat down?). 

  * **Escape:** With nothing but chaos and shattered chandeliers, the casino chase was a show to leave even bystanders astounded.



Of course he treasured it, she would never forget how he sounded almost giddy through the mic when taunting the officers, all before _leaping off the fucking window_ like the adrenaline junkie he was _._

She would never forget the roar that made even Crow stop in his tracks, 

“ _GET OUT OF HERE!”_

… Focus, Futaba. Focus, he was in the real-world Leblanc, alive and not in police custody. 

Back on task: this was the only device in the room and there was no sign of a map, so she either had to get it from the tablet or find a way to sneak one out from the library wall. 

She cracked her knuckles “Okay everyone, sit tight and get comfy, we’re gonna be here for a bit”

* * *

_The melody graced by the fabled Nameless and Belladonna had been replaced by emptiness’ deafening hums, she assumed to be subject to it forever if not for the crinkle of metal overhead._

_Steadily, she opened her right eye first, and then her left. Both were still in the same skull, receiving a view the oxymoron’s prisoner must have seen a thousand times._

_Slowly, she pulled her back and sat up on the stone slab, loosely wrapping her arms around her legs, no different than how a child she'd seen in the Trickster’s reality would._

_She met golden ingots staring at her through iron indigo bars, tainted in worry ._

_It called her name in a whisper, and the Shadow sat cross-legged on the marble floor, feathers dropped low to its sides, shackled despite being free from its confinement._

_She chose to be mute, a signal for the tormented soul to speak._

_Moments passed before it did so, “You can’t last long in the other place, and Yaldabaoth is a threat to those like you, you…” it faltered “you know that better than anyone”_

_And indeed she did._

_“I’m sorry for bringing you here like this, but I couldn’t stand the idea of leaving you out there, it was the least I could do. I hope that’s alright.”_

_“You fret for someone that aids in the dismantling of your kind?” she pondered, tilting her head the slightest, a gesture humans often did to show confusion._

_The Shadow shrugged “Even before he and the oxymoron taught me how to fight it, I had never been a fan” a humorless chuckle escaped it “_ Dismantle _… I wonder if there will ever be a day where this world ceases reincarnation.”_

  
  



	4. texts i

**_Group chat: Emergency Meeting_ _:^_**

**_December 25th, 20xx 8:36PM_ **

**Futaba:** lemme recap what we talked at the safe room so we dont forget anything

 **Futaba:** the ‘scripts’ in that control room thing are his memories, we can boot em up whenever to enable a play

 **Futaba:** but one, i didnt find a use for it, and two, there are a few missing

 **Futaba:** with each missing script there’s a ‘card’ to match with it, and those will be our keys for the other door

 **Futaba:** according to readings and map i dug out, the treasure is probably somewhere past said door

 **Futaba** : and now, my fellow thieves, you may be thinking, “okay, cool, we know how to unlock the door, but where the fuck are the card-key thingies?

 **Futaba:** theres some spots on the maze the tablet dubbed ✫彡preparation rooms ✫彡

 **Futaba:** (theyre more or less marked on the map, doesnt say which is which tho)

 **Futaba:** theyre prolly focused on ppl akira knows, i think its our best bet

 **Futaba:** and thats it. 

**Futaba:** NOPE WAIT I FORGOT SOMETHING

 **Futaba:** we’re a teeny tiny itsy bitsy bitty underpowered

 **Futaba:** shadows dont look impossible buuuuuut we’re missing our strongest fighter. so. 

**Futaba:** ok now im done, everyone can talk now (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*✲ﾟ*｡⋆

 **Makoto:** Is there any way to prepare for the next infiltration?

 **Ryuji:** when we were doing shit w kamoshida we went to get weapons to prep

 **Futaba:** mona says yes and medicine w shady doc

 **Ryuji:** sooooooooo do we do that again or

 **Yusuke:** If I remember correctly, didn’t Akira supply our weapons?

 **Futaba:** mona says yep

 **Haru:** Did Aki ever take Mona-chan with him? 

**Futaba:** wait one sec

 **Futaba:** trying to see if voice-to-text works with cats

 **Futaba:** *****not-cat with cat voice

 **Futaba:** im a fucking genius

 **Futaba:** passing the mic to mona

 **Futaba:** Yeah, I was with him most of the time.

 **Futaba:** He worked part-time at both places to cover the cost, plus some other stuff. 

**Futaba:** Untouchable is for guns, Ryuji knows the address, and a clinic in Yongen works for medicine.

 **Futaba:** futaba talking, i can go with mona to both places. we’re close to the doctor, and i have the list with all the guns we’re gonna need

 **Ryuji:** don’t you hate talking to strangers?

 **Futaba:** thats unrelated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 **Yusuke** : I trust Futaba with the mission

 **Yusuke** : I only ask you call us if you feel you are in a tough situation

 **Makoto** : _/replying to: I only ask you to call us if.../_ please

 **Futaba** : your trust has been stored in inventory prized items

 **Futaba** : and will do!

* * *

**_Direct message: Sae Nijima & Makoto Nijima _ **

**_December 25th, 20xx 9:03PM_ **

**Makoto** : just got back home

 **Sae** : There’s food to reheat in the fridge, I’ll be back in half hour

 **Makoto** : got it

 **Sae** : How’d it go?

 **Makoto** : _typing…_

 **Makoto** : _typing.._

 **Makoto** : not what I expected

 **Sae** : Will you be okay? 

**Makoto** : yeah

 **Makoto** : I don’t know

 **Makoto** : it’s déjà vu to when we did your Palace, in a way

 **Makoto** : there’s a lot to worry about 

* * *

**_Group chat: Emergency Meeting_ _:^_**

**_December 25th, 20xx 10:34PM_ **

**Futaba** : alright fuckers first mission was success

 **Yusuke** : Well done

 **Makoto** : nice!

 **Haru** : Congratulations!

 **Futaba** : wayyyyyy easier than i thought, miss intimidating doctor recognized mona and it was smooth sailin’ from there

 **Futaba** : hopefully it’ll work on guns dude tomorrow morning

 **Ryuji** : LOL good luck

 **Ryuji** : srs though, call if u need help hes super cold 

**Futaba** : mona says thats bc you dont know him good

 **Yusuke** : By the way, when will the next infiltration be?

 **Yusuke** : I’m willing to go tomorrow if everyone else is available

 **Makoto** : tomorrow works, it can be at my house again 

**Futaba** : it’s so far away thouughhghghh

 **Futaba** : i can go anyway

 **Haru** : I’m available!

 **Ann** : ^^

 **Ryuji** : same

* * *

**_Direct message: Haru Okumura & Akira Kurusu _ **

**_December 25th, 20xx 10:41PM_ **

**Akira** : hi 

**Haru** : Hello!

 **Akira** : how've you been?

 **Haru** : I’m fine, thank you

 **Haru** : What about you?

 **Akira** : eh

 **Akira** : is Mona with you?

 **Haru** : No, is he not with you?

 **Akira** : he went out this morning and he hasn't come back yet

 **Akira** : starting to get worried

 **Haru** : Maybe he’s with Futaba? She’s closer to you, no?

 **Akira** : forgot about that

 **Akira** : gonna go ask her, thanks 

**Haru** : No problem! 

**Haru** : _/replying to: eh/_ Are you doing alright?

 **Akira** : kinda

 **Akira** : don’t worry about it 

**Akira** : :D

* * *

**_Direct message: Futaba Sakura & Akira Kurusu _ **

**_December 25th, 20xx 10:47PM_ **

**Akira** : hi

 **Futaba** : sup

 **Akira** : how are you? 

**Futaba** : m good owo

 **Futaba** : u? 

**Akira** : im good

 **Akira** : is Mona with you?

 **Futaba** : yeah, he came here around noon

 **Futaba** : didn’t say why tho

 **Futaba** : did you guys argue about sushi or something

 **Akira** : something like that

 **Futaba** : sure

 **Akira** : let me know if he’s coming back, ok? 

**Futaba** : gotchu uwu

* * *

**_Direct message: Ann Takamaki & Ryuji Sakamoto _ **

**_December 25th, 20xx 11:51PM_ **

**Ryuji** : hey

 **Ann** : ?

 **Ann** : Oh

 **Ann** : You too? 

**Ryuji** : yea :( 

**Ann** : yea :( 

**Ryuji** : i rllyyyyy wanna check on him 

**Ryuji** : likr baddddddd

 **Ann** : i knowwwwwww

 **Ann** : But we need to hold off, for now at least

 **Ann** : Plus lets face it were both shit liars 

**Ann** : I got kinda decent w the Madarame Incident/The Boat but 

**Ann** : Yknow :)

 **Ryuji** : i getcha

 **Ann** : Soooooo u wanna talk abt it?

 **Ryuji** : kinda? idk 

**Ryuji** : this whole things just mindfcking if anything

 **Ann** : We can call if you want/?

 **Ryuji** : sure

 **Ryuji** : wait my mom’s asleep, it’s cool if i talk w text right?

 **Ann** : Yea 

**Ryuji** : lemme get headphones

 **Ann** : Ditto

 **Ryuji** : aight

 **Ryuji** : sup

 **Ryuji** : tired as hell, but yeah

 **Ryuji** : you?

 **Ryuji** : you sure? you sound like ur sick or something

 **Ryuji** : bullllllshit i can hear sniffles from here

 **Ryuji** : :)

 **Ryuji** : howd u get sick?

 **Ryuji** : wtf 

**Ryuji** : no way in hell that happened

 **Ryuji** : :I

 **Ryuji** : so what happened?

 **Ryuji** : oh

 **Ryuji** : dude you just told me you were crying how am i not gonna worry

 **Ryuji** : you gonna be ok?

 **Ryuji** : ok

 **Ryuji** : right, palace happened

 **Ryuji** : idk

 **Ryuji** : i kind of feel awful?

 **Ryuji** : like, i knew him from the start, so i shouldve noticed somethin was goin on yeah?

 **Ryuji** : not just me cool

 **Ryuji** : YEAH

 **Ryuji** : wait i think i know somewhere mom’s not gonna hear me

 **Ryuji** : brb ill get on the call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wonder what the prep room stuff is about
> 
> also im aware this chap is rlly short ive just been. writing for stuff later on :)


End file.
